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Librarians Choice – Book Club Favourites

This blog post is from Maddie, a community librarian based in the North east of the city.

I thought I would share my Readers Groups’ favourite books. I joined a Community Choir over 10 years ago and a few of us shared a passion for reading and decided to start up a Readers Group. These are a few of the titles that have prompted the best discussion.

This is debut novel, powerfully written and we felt it was a page-turner despite it being sad.
This novel is written from the different viewpoints of each of the four main characters. Middle aged Avis, struggling with an imminent divorce and a war torn son while Bashkim is an eight year old Albanian boy with immigrant parents and a strong sense of responsibility. Alongside them is Luis, a troubled soldier suffering from Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder and a world of other issues and Roberta, a volunteer social worker. These four lives all collide in one alarming incident.

This was one of the first books that we read as a group. One of us wanted to read an Ian McEwan book and Saturday was one that none of us had read. ‘Saturday’ is a novel set within a single day in February 2003. Henry Perowne is a contented man, but what troubles him is the state of the world. Following a minor car accident, Perowne is brought into contact with a small-time thug called Miller. This meeting has savage consequences.

This is a murder mystery set at the time of Henry VIII. It introduces Matthew Shardlake, a monk, sent to investigate the horrific murder of Commissioner Robin Singleton. This is the first in a series. One of us had already read the book and was so impressed with it that she wanted to see what the rest of us thought of tit and it was a hit.

Set in South Carolina in the 1960s at the time of desegregation. It’s a story about Lily Owens a teenager who has grown up believing that she killed her mother. Her father is cruel and harsh and she runs away with their servant Rasaleen and they end up finding sanctuary at the home of three sisters who keep bees.

When a move to a new house coincides with his baby sister’s illness, Michael’s world seems suddenly lonely and uncertain. Then, one Sunday afternoon, he stumbles into the old garage of his new home, and finds something magical. A strange creature – part owl, part angel, a being who needs Michael’s help if he is to survive. With his new friend Mina, Michael nourishes Skellig back to health, while his baby sister languishes in the hospital. But Skellig is far more than he at first appears, and as he helps Michael breathe life into his tiny sister, Michael’s world changes for ever.